Audible-signal clock



March 16, 1937.. w. E. PORTER AUDIBLE SIGNAL CLOCK Filed Sept. 13, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet l March 1%, 1937.

w. E. PORTER 2,074,925

AUDIBLE SIGNAL CLOCK Filed Sept. 13, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 16, 1937. w. E. PORTER 2,074,25

AUDIBLE SIGNAL CLOCK Filed Sept. 13, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 16, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUDIBLE-SIGNAL CLOCK Conn., a corporation Application September 13, 1935, Serial No. 40,426

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in audible-signal clocks, that is to say, that class of clocks which, in addition to indicating time, also embody means for sounding an audible signal. Such class of clocks includes alarm clocks,

strike clocks, chime clocks, etc.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a superior audible-signal clock in which two or more trains (such, for instance, as a time-train and an alarm-train) are driven by the same spring-motor or other suitable energystoring motor.

A further object is to provide a superior audible-signal clock in which a normally-continuously-operating train and a periodically-functioning train are effectively and reliably driven from one energy-storing motor.

Another object is to provide a superior clock construction wherein an alarm-train may be driven from the same spring-motor which serves to drive the time-train without, however, permitting the said spring-motor to exhaust its power in driving the said alarm-train to the detriment of the said time-train.

With the above and other objects in view, as Will appear to those skilled in the art from the following, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and appended claims, the present invention includes all features dis- 30 closed therein which are novel over the prior art.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of an alarmclock movement embodying the present invention, with certain of the gearing broken away;

Fig. 2 is a view thereof mainly in side elevation but with the alarm-bell shown in vertical central section;

Fig. 3 is a broken detail sectional view through the driving-spring, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a broken view in rear elevation with the alarm-bell in section; and

Fig. 5 is a broken perspective view showing 45 the driving-spring, the Winding and stopping means therefor, and associated parts.

The particular alarm clock herein chosen for the illustration of the present invention includes a rear movement-plate 20, a front movement- 50 plate 2| and an auxiliary front-plate 22. The

rear movement-plate 20 and front movementplate 2| are coupled together in parallel spacedapart relationship by means of suitable pillars 23, and similarly the auxiliary front-plate 22 is 55 held in parallel spaced-apart relationship forwardly of the front movement-plate 2| by means of suitable pillars 24.

Bearing in and located mainly between the rear and front movement-plates 23 and 2| is a main arbor 25 having the inner end of a spiral driving-spring 26 attached thereto by means of an integral hook 21. The said spiral drivingspring 26 is housed within a cup-shaped springbarrel 28 having an annular series of gear-teeth thereon constituting the time main-wheel 29 of the time-train of the clock, to be later described. The spring-barrel 28 is staked to a hub 30 which in turn is mounted with freedom for rotation upon the forward portion of the main arbor 25.

Just to the rear of the spring-barrel 28 the main arbor 25 is formed with a cylindrical bearing-surface 3| upon which is mounted, with freedom for rotation, an alarm main-wheel 32 constituting the main wheel of an alarm-train, to be later described. Also mounted upon the bearingsurface 3| of the main arbor 25 just forwardly of the alarm main-wheel 32 is a bowed frictionwasher 33 serving to maintain the said alarmwheel 32 against the forward face of a ratchetwheel 34 staked to the main arbor 25 just forwardly of the rear movement-plate 20.

The main arbor 25, under the urge of the inner end of the driving-spring 26, eiiects the turning of the alarm main-wheel 32 through the intermediary of the ratchet-wheel 34 and a pawl 35 engaging therewith under the urge of a spring 36 and mounted upon the rear face of the said alarm main-wheel 32.

For the purpose of winding the driving-spring 26, the main arbor 25 is provided with a noncircular portion 31 projecting beyond the rear face of the rear movement-plate 20 and receiving the main winding-wheel 38 having a similarly-shaped opening therein snugly fitting the portion 31 of the main arbor 25 so as to be coupled thereto for concurrent rotation.

The main winding-wheel 38 is engaged on occasion by a winding-pinion 39 rotating on a headed stud 40 carried in the outer end of a pivotal arm 4i mounted adjacent the rear face of the rear movement-plate 20 and turning about a stud 42 rearwardly extending from the said rear movement-plate 20. The said Winding-pinion 39 is held against too free rotation by a friction-washer 43 The forward end of the stud 40 which is mounted in the outer end of the pivotal arm 4! extends forwardly into an opening 43 in the rear movement-plate, the walls of which opening serve to limit the travel of the said stud 46 and hence of the outer end of the said pivotal arm and the winding-pinion 39 carried thereby.

Mounted upon the stud 42 which extends rearwardly from the rear movement-plate 20, with freedom for rotation thereon save for slight frictional restraint occasioned by a spring-Washer 4 3 which restrains the meshing-pinion 39, is a Winding-pinion i l meshing into the windingpinion 39, before referred to. The said windingpinion id is rigidly attached to the rear face of a winding-drmn 45 which latter is also mounted upon the stud 32 and has wrapped around it a pull-cord 46 which may properly be termed the winding-member of the clock. By means of the pull-cord 46, the winding-drum 45 may be turned to effect the winding of the driving-spring 26 through the connecting parts.

When tension is applied to the pull-cord 46, it tends to turn the winding-drum 45 and hence to 0 swing the pivotal arm ii in such direction as to mesh the winding-pinion 39- with the windingwheel 38. When tension onthe-pull-cord is relaxed, the said pivotal arm t! isswung in a reverse direction, so as to de-mesh the windingpinion 39 from the winding-wheel 38, by means of a flat spring ii secured at its lower end to the rear face of the rear movement-plate 20 and engaging at its upper end with a rearwardly-extending finger t8 formed upon the lower end of the pivotal arm 4|.

The main arbor 25 is formed with a portion 49 of non-circular form in cross-section, which extends beyond the front face of the front movement-plate 2i and enters an opening of corresponding shape in a stop-pinion 50 which is adapted to mesh with a circular series of teeth 5| formed upon the periphery of a stop-wheel 52. The circular series of teeth 5!, just referred to, is interrupted by a gap 53 (Fig. 5) into which, under certain conditions, the teeth of the stoppinion 5i} may extend without exerting any turning effort upon the stop-wheel 52.

The said stop-wheel '52 is provided with a forwardly-offsetting spring-engaging abutment 54, which is adapted to engage with the outer end of a sheet-metal spring 55 having its opposite end securely staked to the front movement-plate 2i. When the abutment 54, just referred to, is engaged by the spring 55, the latter exerts a constant effort to turn the stop-wheel 52 in a counterclockwise direction to a sufficient degree to mesh the teeth 5! with the stop-pinion 50.

The stop-wheel 52 is also provided with an arcuateclearance-slot 56 having an end-wall providing a stop-abutment 5'? which is engageable by the rear end of an arbor 58 which projects into the clearance-slot 56, before referred to, and which carries a pinion 59 constituting the first pinion of an alarm-train which is meshed into 60 and driven by the alarm main-Wheel 32. The arbor 58 upon which the first pinion 59 is rigidly mounted also has rigidly secured to it a second wheel fill which meshes into and drives a pinion 6i rigidly attached to an arbor 62 which has rig- 65 idly secured to it a verge-wheel 63. The vergewheel 63, in the usual manner of alarm mechanisms, engages with an oscillating verge 64 rigidly secured to a hammer-arbor 85 carrying a radially-offsetting hammer-arm 66 having a 70 hammer-head 67 mounted at its outer end. The

hammer-head 6'! is adapted when the alarmtrain is released for operation to strike the inner surface of the flange of a cup-shaped alarm-bell 63 suitably secured to the rear movement-plate Also offsetting from the arbor 65 in a direction generally opposite to that in which the hammerarmtS ofisets therefrom, but formed integrally with the latter, is a hammer-tail 69. By blocking the movement of the said hammer-tail, the alarm-mechanism may be stopped by means of a suitable manually-operated shut-off device.

Movable into and out of the path of vibration of the hammer-arm 66 is an alarm-control finger 10 formed integral with and rearwardly off- 10 setting from the free end of a flexible spring-like alarm-control arm H which is secured at its opposite end to the front movement-plate 2i by means of a screw 72.

Located forwardly of the alarm-control spring 15 H and normally holding the same flexed rearwardly is the hour-wheel 13 of the clock, which is mounted with freedom for both axial and rotary movement upon the center arbor it forwardly of the front movement-plate 2 l. The said 20 center arbor carries at its forward end a minutepointer 15 (Fig. 2) and is provided at its rear end with a finger-button '16 by means of which the clock may be set. The said hour-wheel i3 carries a forwardly-extending hour-sleeve '5'! upon which may be mounted an hour-hand 78 (Fig. 2). The hour-wheel 13 also carries a cam-finger i9 coacting in the usual manner of alarm clocks with an alarm-control cam 80 rigidly secured to and rearwardly offsetting from an alarm-setting :30 wheel 8|. The said wheel 8! is mounted with freedom for rotation upon the hour-sleeve ii an carries a forwardly-extending sleeve 82 provided with an alarm-setting pointer 83. Meshing into the alarm-setting wheel 8| is an alarm-setting pinion 84 rigidly secured to the forward end of an alarm-setting staff 85 projecting rearwardly beyond the bell 68 and carrying a finger-button 86.

By turning the alarm-setting staff 85 by means d0 of its finger-button 86, the alarmrsetting wheel 8! may be turned to set a cam-notch 81 in the alarm-control cam 80 with respect to the camfinger 79 of the hour-wheel 13, to thus determine the time of day at which the said finger will 45 snap forwardly into the said notch under the urge of the spring-like arm H, to thus retire the alarm-control finger 70 out of the path of the hammer-arm 66 and permit the same to vibrate and sound an alarm, 50

Having described the alarm-train and associated parts, which train is driven by the inner end of the driving-spring 26 through the inter mediary of the alarm main-wheel 32, the mode of effecting the drive of the time-train from the 55 said driving-spring 26 willnow be described.

The time main-wheel 29 meshes into and drives a pinion 88 which is secured to the center arbor l4 and to a gear-wheel 89 which meshes into and drives a pinion 99 mounted upon an arbor 9! 0 and carrying a gear-wheel 92. The gear-wheel 92 meshes into and drivesa pinion 93 secured to an arbor 94 which also carries a gear-wheel 95. The gear-wheel 95 meshes into and drives a pinion 96 secured to an arbor 91-? carrying a pallet- 65 wheel 98 forming a feature of a'substantiallystandard escapement which also includes an escape-lever 99, a balance-wheel Hi8 and a hairspring IBI. s

For the purpose of description, let it be 3151-70 sumed that the driving-spring 26 is wound and that it is driving the time-train and hence the minute-and hour-hands 15 and 18.

When, during the turning movement'of the hour-wheel 13, the cam-control finger lfithereof 35 registers with and snaps forwardly under the urge of the resilient alarm-contro-larm'll into the camnotch 8'! of the alarm-control cam 80, the alarmcontrol finger 10 will be withdrawn from the path of oscillation of the hammer-arm 56 and an alarm will be sounded by means of energy supplied by the driving-spring 26 acting through the main arbor 25, the alarm main-wheel 32 and the remainder of the alarm-train.

As the main arbor 25 starts to turn when the alarm mechanism is released, as above described, it will, through the intermediary of the stop-pinion 50, turn the stop-wheel 52 in a counterclockwise direction until such time as the stop-abutment 51 of the said wheel engages with the projecting rear end of the arbor 58. When this engagement takes place, the alarm-train will be definitely stopped and no further energy of the driving-spring 26 will be expended in driving the alarm mechanism. Thus, the length of the alarm-sounding period is determined by the time it takes for the stop-abutment 51 of the stopwheel 52 to move from the position in which it is indicated in Fig. 5 to a position in which it engages with the under side of the arbor 58. The driving-spring will, during the sounding of the alarm and for a relatively-long period thereafter, continue to drive the time-train.

When it is desired to rewind the clock, this may be eifected by drawing downwardly upon the pull-cord 46 to thus turn the winding-drum 45, together with the winding-pinion 44 carried thereby, which movement will initially effect the swinging of the pivotal arm H against the resistance of the spring 4! to engage the winding-pinion 39 with the main winding-wheel 38. The

continued draft upon the pull-cord 46 will efiect the rotation of the said main winding-wheel 38 and hence of the main arbor 25 to thus wind up or energize the driving-spring 26. As the main arbor 25 is turned, as just above described, in effecting the winding of the driving-spring 2B, the stop-pinion 50 at the forward end thereof will be also rotated and will eifect the rotation of the stop-wheel 52 in a clockwise direction until the said wheel 52 is restored to the position in which it is indicated in Fig. 5, in which the teeth of the stop-pinion 50 may idly swing around in the gap 53 therein.

When the stop-wheel has reached the position just above referred to and as shown in Fig. 5, the continued turning movement of the main arbor 25 and hence of the stop-pinion 55 will effect no further turning movement of the said stop-wheel, owing to the gap 53 in the circular series of teeth 5| thereon, though immediately upon any reverse movement of the said arbor and its stop-pinion 59, such as would occur when the alarm mechanism is released, the said pinion 56 will immediately start to drive the stop-wheel 52 in a counterclockwise direction, owing to the fact that the spring 55 constantly tends to yieldingly hold the first tooth of the circular series 5| in constant engagement with the said pinion 50.

By means of the clock mechanism above described, both a time-train and an alarm-train may be driven from a single spring motor without, however, any danger of permitting the alarm-train to drain off more power from the said spring than is required to effectively sound an alarm.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

1. An audible-signal clock including in combination: a main arbor; a first main wheel mounted concentrically with respect to the said main arbor and rotatable with respect thereto; a doubleended driving-spring having one end operatively connected to the said main arbor and its opposite end operatively connected to the said first main wheel; a second main wheel operatively connected to the said main arbor; a time-train driven by one of the said main wheels; an audible-signal mechanism driven by the other of said main wheels; and automatic-means serving to limit the driving movement of the said main arbor and including a rotary toothed member driven by the said driving-spring and a second rotary memher having an interrupted series of gear-teeth adapted to be meshed with the said rotary toothed member and also having an arcuate slot therein, spring-means tending to mesh the two said members, and a stop projecting into the arcuate slot in the said second member and coacting with the wall thereof to limit the turning movement of the said second member.

2. An audible-signal clock including in combination: a double-ended driving-spring; a first train operatively connected to one end of the said driving-spring and driven thereby; a second train operatively connected to the opposite end of the said driving-spring and driven thereby; automatic-means serving to limit the driving movement of one end of the said driving-spring to a predetermined amount; and manually-operable means serving to wind the said spring and including a winding-drum, a pinion moune-d for bodily swinging movement about a center which is coaxial with respect to the said winding-drum into and out of mesh with one of the said trains, and spring-means normally holding the said pinion out of mesh with the said train with which it coacts.

WILSON E. PORTER. 

